Cliff Richard & The Shadows — Free listening, videos, concerts, stats and photos at Last.fm british Sir Cliff Richard OBE (born Harry Rodger Webb on 14 October 1940) is an English singer. With his backing group The Shadows , he dominated the British popular music scene in the late 1950s and early 1960s, before and during the The Beatles' first year in the charts. A conversion to Christianity and subsequent softening of his music led to his having more of a pop than rock image. Although never able to achieve the same impact in the United States… read more Cliff Richard | New Music And Songs | Cliff Richard About Cliff Richard In the years after Elvis Presley but before the Beatles, Cliff Richard was the biggest thing in British rock & roll -- and in the years after the Beatles, he was never far from the top of the U.K. charts.

Arriving in 1958, just a couple of years after skiffle swept across Britain, Richard was the first English singer to approximate the hip-shaking rebellion of American rock & roll with his 1958 debut single "Move It." A smash hit right out of the gate, "Move It" kicked off an astonishing five decades' worth of hits (his last time in the U.K. Top 10 was, as of this writing, in 2008, when "Thank You for a Lifetime" went to three). The earliest recordings, most made with his backing band the Shadows, were his hardest-rocking and undoubtedly his most influential, making an impression on nearly the entire first generation of British rock & rollers. Like Presley, who was certainly Richard's key influence, Cliff's popularity wound up pushing him ever so gradually to the status of an all-around entertainer. He moved into movies quickly -- the first came just a year after "Move It" -- and the Shadows tamed their rockabilly, but the real shift into the mainstream came after the Beatles opened the floodgates for homegrown British rock & roll, banishing Richard to the status of an older generation.

Cliff continued to have hits in the '60s, even after he and the Shadows disbanded in 1968, but he split his time between pop and Christian music; then in the early '70s he focused on hosting a variety show on the BBC. Toward the end of the '70s, he made a big pop comeback with 1976's "Devil Woman," which became his first Top 10 hit in the U.S., and over the next five years he racked up several intercontinental soft rock hits, including 1979's "We Don't Talk Anymore," 1980's "Dreamin'," and the Olivia Newton-John duet "Suddenly," taken from the 1980 soundtrack to Xanadu. This period was his first and last time at the top of the U.S.

charts but throughout the '80s, '90s, and 2000s he remained an institution in the U.K., regularly appearing in the Top Ten charts and on television, releasing 100 full-length albums in the process and, in 1995, he was made a Knight Bachelor in the British kingdom, proof of his iconic status. Cliff Richard was born Harry Rodger Webb in Lucknow, India which, on October 14, 1940, was part of the British Empire. His father, Rodger Oscar, worked for a catering contractor employed by Indian Railways and the Webb family remained in India until the country gained its independence from Britain in 1948. Relocating to a semi-detached in the London suburb of Carshalton in Surrey, Harry Webb, like so many teenagers of his era, became interested in music thanks to the skiffle phenomenon of 1956/1957. A quick succession of groups came and went -- he formed the Quintones in 1957, then joined the Dick Teague Skiffle Group -- before settling with the U.K.

group called the Drifters, who became popular enough to attract the attention of manager Harry Greatorex. He suggested a name change -- the Cliff came from Greatorex, the Richard came from Drifters guitarist and songwriter Ian Samwell, who penned "Move It" -- and soon the band became Cliff Richard & the Drifters, playing larger shows and landing a record contract. "Schoolboy Crush" was planned as the A-side with "Move It" as its flip, but momentum built for the raucous B-side and, soon, the record galloped to number two on the U.K. singles chart. "Move It" turned Cliff Richard into a star and it ushered in a boom in British rock & roll, of which Richard was the undeniable leader.

"High Class Baby" made it to seven by the end of 1958 and, after a slight dip in early 1959 with "Livin' Lovin' Doll" (which only made it to 20), he brought "Mean Streak" to 10 and had back-to-back number ones with "Living Doll" and "Travellin' Light." "Living Doll" was not only was Richard's first number one, it was the first to feature his band -- now including guitarist Hank Marvin, guitarist Bruce Welch, bassist Jet Harris and drummer Tony Meehan -- on record (previously, he recorded with studio musicians). Not long after the number one success of "Living Doll," the band faced legal action from the U.S. R&B group the Drifters, so they change their name to the Shadows; as Richard's career maintained momentum, the Shadows would have their own side success as an instrumental outfit, with the band's lineup shifting slightly but always anchored by Marvin and Welch. Richard was quick to capitalize on his popularity, starring in his first film Serious Charge in 1959, and softening his sound slightly to appeal to a broader audience.

Throughout the early '60s, the singles and albums came quickly and so did the films. In 1960, he had five hit singles, all reaching the top three -- "Please Don't Tease" and "I Love You" topped the charts, "A Voice in the Wilderness" and "Fallin in Love with You" reached two, "Nine Times Out of Ten" peaked at three -- and he started to cultivate a fan base in Europe, Australia, and New Zealand. Richard took a stab at America, touring the country in 1960, but he never made any inroads in the U.S. This lack of stateside success was easy to ignore as Richard was not only the biggest recording star of the early '60s in the U.K.

-- from 1960 to 1965, every one of his singles reached the Top 10, with "The Young Ones," "The Next Time," "Bachelor Boy," "Summer Holiday," and "The Minute You're Gone" all reaching number one -- he was also a huge movie star; 1961's The Young Ones confirmed his silver screen appeal, and 1963's Summer Holiday and 1964's Wonderful Life were also equally popular. His popularity took a hit in 1964 once Beatlemania kicked in and a wave of guitar groups flooded the British charts. Richard survived 1963 and 1964 without slipping from the Top 10, but by 1965, placing in the Top 10 was no longer guaranteed. Richard gamely tried to follow the trends, covering Mick Jagger and Keith Richards' "Blue Turns to Grey" in 1966, but this period is distinguished by his public declaration in 1964 that he was a Christian. He considered leaving rock & roll behind but wound up pursuing a parallel career, performing secular material and religious work elsewhere, occasionally headlining Christian films.

The next pivotal year in Richard's career was 1968, the year when he represented the U.K. in the Eurovision contest via the song "Congratulations" and when the Shadows disbanded. The singer continued his relationship with Hank Marvin, with the guitarist appearing regularly on the variety show It's Cliff Richard, which premiered in 1970 and ran until 1976. Throughout the early '70s, Richard was a show biz fixture -- in addition to It's Cliff Richard (which morphed into It's Cliff and Friends in 1975), he appeared on BBC's Pop Go the Sixties and other television shows, including hosting early rounds of Eurovision -- but the hits slowed to a trickle; only 1973's "Power to All Our Friends" matched any of his '60s hits in popularity, becoming his first single since "Congratulations" to be awarded Silver certification. In 1975, he didn't place one single in the U.K. charts, breaking his 16-year streak of hits.

Conscious of this stagnation, Richard brought Shadow Bruce Welch back into the fold for 1976's I'm Nearly Famous, a record that followed in the footsteps of Elton John or, arguably, the John-sponsored 1975 comeback from Neil Sedaka. I'm Nearly Famous was wildly successful thanks to "Devil Woman," a song that not only brought him back to the Top 10 in Britain but gave him his first-ever U.S. hit; it actually charted higher in America than it did in Britain, peaking at six instead of nine. "Devil Woman" kicked off a five-year renaissance for Richard, where he regularly saw the top of the British charts and had two more international hits: "We Don't Talk Anymore," from 1979's Rock N Roll Juvenile and "Dreamin'," from 1980's I'm No Hero.

Richard re-teamed with Olivia Newton-John, who he had been performing with since the early '70s, for the 1980 film Xanadu, whose soundtrack produced the hit "Suddenly." Richard racked up a few more hits in the early '80s -- there was the vaguely new wave "Wired for Sound" in 1981 and the Phil Everly duet "She Means Nothing to Me" in 1983 -- but the comeback started to slow down as the decade progressed.

He teamed up with comedy troupe the Young Ones -- who took their name from his hit 1961 movie -- for a Comic Relief cover of "Living Doll" in 1986 and, also that year, he appeared in the West End musical Time and had a hit duet with Sarah Brightman on the Phantom of the Opera song "All I Ask of You." All this led to 1987's Always Guaranteed, his most successful album of the '80s thanks to the singles "My Pretty One" and "Some People." For its 1989 follow-up Stronger, Richard worked with hit-makers Stock-Aitken-Waterman, which marked the last time he truly attempted to sound contemporary. During the '90s and into the new millennium, there was little question Cliff Richard was a British pop music institution, appearing regularly on television and at public events and occasionally popping up on the charts. In 1995, he was honored with the appointment of a Knight Bachelor in the British Empire. In 1999, when EMI refused to release his single "The Millennium Prayer," Richard marshaled public support to get the song, which was independently released, to number one.

Remarkably, he was able to score more Top 10 singles over the course of the 2000s: the seasonal "Santa's List" and "21st Century Christmas" went to five and two, respectively in 2003 and 2006, then his 50th Anniversary Album spawned the number three hit "Thank You for a Lifetime" in 2008. Richard celebrated his 50th Anniversary in 2008 in spectacular fashion, reuniting the Shadows for a tour and releasing a box set called And They Said It Wouldn't Last: My 50 Years in Music. The reunited Richard & the Shadows released a brand-new album called Reunited in 2009. The following year, he had a grand celebration of his 70th birthday capped off by six concerts at Royal Albert Hall. In 2001, Richard took a detour into soul for the Lamont Dozier-produced Soulicious and then in 2013, he released his 100th album, The Fabulous Rock N Roll Songbook. He returned in 2016 with Just...

Fabulous Rock 'n' Roll, an album of covers of songs from pioneers of the rock & roll genre. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, Rovi Cliff Richard | Biography & History | AllMusic google+ Artist Biography by Stephen Thomas Erlewine In the years after Elvis Presley but before the Beatles , Cliff Richard was the biggest thing in British rock & roll -- and in the years after the Beatles , he was never far from the top of the U.K. charts. Arriving in 1958, just a couple of years after skiffle swept across Britain, Richard was the first English singer to approximate the hip-shaking rebellion of American rock & roll with his 1958 debut single "Move It." A smash hit right out of the gate, "Move It" kicked off an astonishing five decades' worth of hits (his last time in the U.K. Top 10 was, as of this writing, in 2008, when "Thank You for a Lifetime" went to three). The earliest recordings, most made with his backing band the Shadows , were his hardest-rocking and undoubtedly his most influential, making an impression on nearly the entire first generation of British rock & rollers.

Like Presley , who was certainly Richard 's key influence, Cliff 's popularity wound up pushing him ever so gradually to the status of an all-around entertainer. He moved into movies quickly -- the first came just a year after "Move It" -- and the Shadows tamed their rockabilly, but the real shift into the mainstream came after the Beatles opened the floodgates for homegrown British rock & roll, banishing Richard to the status of an older generation. Cliff continued to have hits in the '60s, even after he and the Shadows disbanded in 1968, but he split his time between pop and Christian music; then in the early '70s he focused on hosting a variety show on the BBC.

Toward the end of the '70s, he made a big pop comeback with 1976's "Devil Woman," which became his first Top 10 hit in the U.S., and over the next five years he racked up several intercontinental soft rock hits, including 1979's "We Don't Talk Anymore," 1980's "Dreamin'," and the Olivia Newton-John duet "Suddenly," taken from the 1980 soundtrack to Xanadu . This period was his first and last time at the top of the U.S. charts but throughout the '80s, '90s, and 2000s he remained an institution in the U.K., regularly appearing in the Top Ten charts and on television, releasing 100 full-length albums in the process and, in 1995, he was made a Knight Bachelor in the British kingdom, proof of his iconic status. Cliff Richard was born Harry Rodger Webb in Lucknow, India which, on October 14, 1940, was part of the British Empire.

His father, Rodger Oscar, worked for a catering contractor employed by Indian Railways and the Webb family remained in India until the country gained its independence from Britain in 1948. Relocating to a semi-detached in the London suburb of Carshalton in Surrey, Harry Webb, like so many teenagers of his era, became interested in music thanks to the skiffle phenomenon of 1956/1957. A quick succession of groups came and went -- he formed the Quintones in 1957, then joined the Dick Teague Skiffle Group -- before settling with the U.K. group called the Drifters , who became popular enough to attract the attention of manager Harry Greatorex. He suggested a name change -- the Cliff came from Greatorex, the Richard came from Drifters guitarist and songwriter Ian Samwell , who penned "Move It" -- and soon the band became Cliff Richard & the Drifters , playing larger shows and landing a record contract.

"Schoolboy Crush" was planned as the A-side with "Move It" as its flip, but momentum built for the raucous B-side and, soon, the record galloped to number two on the U.K. singles chart. "Move It" turned Cliff Richard into a star and it ushered in a boom in British rock & roll, of which Richard was the undeniable leader. "High Class Baby" made it to seven by the end of 1958 and, after a slight dip in early 1959 with "Livin' Lovin' Doll" (which only made it to 20), he brought "Mean Streak" to 10 and had back-to-back number ones with "Living Doll" and "Travellin' Light." "Living Doll" was not only was Richard 's first number one, it was the first to feature his band -- now including guitarist Hank Marvin , guitarist Bruce Welch , bassist Jet Harris and drummer Tony Meehan -- on record (previously, he recorded with studio musicians). Not long after the number one success of "Living Doll," the band faced legal action from the U.S.

R&B group the Drifters , so they change their name to the Shadows ; as Richard 's career maintained momentum, the Shadows would have their own side success as an instrumental outfit, with the band's lineup shifting slightly but always anchored by Marvin and Welch . Richard was quick to capitalize on his popularity, starring in his first film Serious Charge in 1959, and softening his sound slightly to appeal to a broader audience. Throughout the early '60s, the singles and albums came quickly and so did the films. In 1960, he had five hit singles, all reaching the top three -- "Please Don't Tease" and "I Love You" topped the charts, "A Voice in the Wilderness" and "Fallin in Love with You" reached two, "Nine Times Out of Ten" peaked at three -- and he started to cultivate a fan base in Europe, Australia, and New Zealand. Richard took a stab at America, touring the country in 1960, but he never made any inroads in the U.S. This lack of stateside success was easy to ignore as Richard was not only the biggest recording star of the early '60s in the U.K.

-- from 1960 to 1965, every one of his singles reached the Top 10, with "The Young Ones," "The Next Time," "Bachelor Boy," "Summer Holiday," and "The Minute You're Gone" all reaching number one -- he was also a huge movie star; 1961's The Young Ones confirmed his silver screen appeal, and 1963's Summer Holiday and 1964's Wonderful Life were also equally popular. His popularity took a hit in 1964 once Beatlemania kicked in and a wave of guitar groups flooded the British charts. Richard survived 1963 and 1964 without slipping from the Top 10, but by 1965, placing in the Top 10 was no longer guaranteed. Richard gamely tried to follow the trends, covering Mick Jagger and Keith Richards ' "Blue Turns to Grey" in 1966, but this period is distinguished by his public declaration in 1964 that he was a Christian. He considered leaving rock & roll behind but wound up pursuing a parallel career, performing secular material and religious work elsewhere, occasionally headlining Christian films.

The next pivotal year in Richard 's career was 1968, the year when he represented the U.K. in the Eurovision contest via the song "Congratulations" and when the Shadows disbanded. The singer continued his relationship with Hank Marvin , with the guitarist appearing regularly on the variety show It's Cliff Richard, which premiered in 1970 and ran until 1976. Throughout the early '70s, Richard was a show biz fixture -- in addition to It's Cliff Richard (which morphed into It's Cliff and Friends in 1975), he appeared on BBC's Pop Go the Sixties and other television shows, including hosting early rounds of Eurovision -- but the hits slowed to a trickle; only 1973's "Power to All Our Friends" matched any of his '60s hits in popularity, becoming his first single since "Congratulations" to be awarded Silver certification. In 1975, he didn't place one single in the U.K. charts, breaking his 16-year streak of hits.

Conscious of this stagnation, Richard brought Shadow Bruce Welch back into the fold for 1976's I'm Nearly Famous , a record that followed in the footsteps of Elton John or, arguably, the John -sponsored 1975 comeback from Neil Sedaka . I'm Nearly Famous was wildly successful thanks to "Devil Woman," a song that not only brought him back to the Top 10 in Britain but gave him his first-ever U.S. hit; it actually charted higher in America than it did in Britain, peaking at six instead of nine. "Devil Woman" kicked off a five-year renaissance for Richard , where he regularly saw the top of the British charts and had two more international hits: "We Don't Talk Anymore," from 1979's Rock N Roll Juvenile and "Dreamin'," from 1980's I'm No Hero .

Richard re-teamed with Olivia Newton-John , who he had been performing with since the early '70s, for the 1980 film Xanadu, whose soundtrack produced the hit "Suddenly." Richard racked up a few more hits in the early '80s -- there was the vaguely new wave "Wired for Sound" in 1981 and the Phil Everly duet "She Means Nothing to Me" in 1983 -- but the comeback started to slow down as the decade progressed.

He teamed up with comedy troupe the Young Ones -- who took their name from his hit 1961 movie -- for a Comic Relief cover of "Living Doll" in 1986 and, also that year, he appeared in the West End musical Time and had a hit duet with Sarah Brightman on the Phantom of the Opera song "All I Ask of You." All this led to 1987's Always Guaranteed , his most successful album of the '80s thanks to the singles "My Pretty One" and "Some People." For its 1989 follow-up Stronger , Richard worked with hit-makers Stock-Aitken-Waterman , which marked the last time he truly attempted to sound contemporary. During the '90s and into the new millennium, there was little question Cliff Richard was a British pop music institution, appearing regularly on television and at public events and occasionally popping up on the charts. In 1995, he was honored with the appointment of a Knight Bachelor in the British Empire. In 1999, when EMI refused to release his single "The Millennium Prayer," Richard marshaled public support to get the song, which was independently released, to number one.

Remarkably, he was able to score more Top 10 singles over the course of the 2000s: the seasonal "Santa's List" and "21st Century Christmas" went to five and two, respectively in 2003 and 2006, then his 50th Anniversary Album spawned the number three hit "Thank You for a Lifetime" in 2008. Richard celebrated his 50th Anniversary in 2008 in spectacular fashion, reuniting the Shadows for a tour and releasing a box set called And They Said It Wouldn't Last: My 50 Years in Music . The reunited Richard & the Shadows released a brand-new album called Reunited in 2009. The following year, he had a grand celebration of his 70th birthday capped off by six concerts at Royal Albert Hall. In 2001, Richard took a detour into soul for the Lamont Dozier -produced Soulicious and then in 2013, he released his 100th album, The Fabulous Rock N Roll Songbook . He returned in 2016 with Just...

Fabulous Rock 'n' Roll , an album of covers of songs from pioneers of the rock & roll genre. Cliff Richard: Search of singer’s home ‘may have been unlawful’ | The Independent Cliff Richard: Search of singer’s home ‘may have been unlawful’ Legal experts claim courts should have been told about BBC deal before approving search warrant Wednesday 20 August 2014 11:05 BST Click to follow The Independent Online Sir Cliff Richard has denied the allegation of abuse Getty Images The police search of Sir Cliff Richard’s house may have been unlawful because officers did not tell a court the BBC had a deal with the force to televise it, senior lawyers are claiming. His home was searched last week by police investigating allegations of a sexual offence involving an underage boy in the 1980s. Sir Cliff, 73, who was in Portugal when the search was carried out, has denied any wrongdoing. He has stayed at his Portuguese home since the search of the property in Berkshire, southern England, and was due to return to Britain next month. The BBC dispatched a helicopter to hover over Sir Cliff’s Berkshire home and stationed its reporters at the singer’s gates before South Yorkshire Police had even arrived to raid the premises.

The search warrant was approved under the 1984 Police and Criminal Evidence Act. The application for this contains a duty of disclosure of anything that could undermine the application or “which for some other reason might affect the court’s decision.” The Times reports that experts say this would include a deal with the BBC, so that the media coverage could be weighed against the reputational damage Sir Cliff could suffer. Cliff Richard: Life in pictures Cliff Richard: Life in pictures 1/22 Cliff Richard Richard aged 18 at the Hulton Boys and Girls Exhibition at Olympia's Disc Theatre in August 1959 when he was lead singer of the Drifters 2/22 Cliff Richard Pictured in 1962 with members of the Shadows, his backing group.

Next to him is Bruce Welch, who played rhythm guitar Getty Images 3/22 Cliff Richard With his backing group, the Shadows, Richard became a massive pop star in the 1960s with a string of hit albums and singles including ‘I love You’ (1960), ‘the Young Ones (1961), Bachelor Boy (1962) and ‘Summer Holiday (1963) 4/22 Cliff Richard With his mother, Dorothy, and one of his sisters in 1964 Michael Stroud/Daily Express/Hulton Archive 5/22 Cliff Richard Outside the Royal Albert Hall where he represented the UK in the Eurovision Song Contest in October 1967 6/22 Cliff Richard Cliff Richard poses in front of his disc awards in the 1970s 8/22 Cliff Richard On stage at the 1981 Royal Variety Performance, at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane in London 9/22 Cliff Richard In an interview with the Daily Mail in 2008, Sir Cliff is reported as saying: "Of all the women I've known, there were only two that I've come close to marrying.

One was Jackie Irving, a dancer whom I met in Blackpool. She was utterly beautiful and for a while we were inseparable.

The other girl I came close to asking was Sue Barker, whom I met in 1982" 10/22 Cliff Richard Orchestrating a round of singing as rain delays play during the 1996 Wimbledon tennis championships 11/22 Cliff Richard Performing a duet with Flemish singer Helmut Lotti during a rehearsal of Lotti's album and TV broadcast 'Pop Classics' on 6 August 2003 in Brussels 12/22 Cliff Richard Performing on stage during the 'Intelligent Finance Cliff Richard Tennis Classic' at Birmingham National Indoor Arena on 18 December 2004 13/22 Cliff Richard Arriving with Brian May at the Royal Film Performance and World Premiere of 'The Chronicles Of Narnia' at the Royal Albert Hall on 7 December 2005 in London 14/22 Cliff Richard Unveiling a plaque of his handprints in Wembley Arena's Square of Fame on 9 November 2006 in London 15/22 Cliff Richard Sir Cliff Richard and The Shadows performs live on stage at the O2 Arena in London on 28 September 2009 16/

22 Cliff Richard Cliff Richard attends a press conference to announce details of his new album at Gilgamesh on 7 March 2011 in London Getty Images 17/22 Cliff Richard Queen Elizabeth II is introduced to Sir Cliff Richard backstage after the Diamond Jubilee, Buckingham Palace Concert on 4 June 2012, along with Sir Elton John, Sir Tom Jones, Paul McCartney, and Shirely Bassey 18/22 Cliff Richard Sir Cliff Richard at the 2012 US Open.

The crooner claimed One Direction still compete with him to 'look cool' Getty Images Performing on stage during the Diamond Jubilee concert at Buckingham Palace in 2012 Getty Images 20/22 Cliff Richard Cliff Richard attends the 'Willkommen bei Carmen Nebel' show at Volkswagen Halle on 23 November 2013 in Braunschweig, Germany 21/22 Cliff Richard Sir Cliff Richard's legal team complain of causing singer 'extremely damaging' media coverage of sex abuse allegations | The Independent Home News Sir Cliff Richard's legal team complain of causing singer 'extremely damaging' media coverage of sex abuse allegations The accusation followed the release of a letter revealing the investigation into an allegation against the singer of child sex abuse has 'increased significantly' Friday 27 February 2015 19:13 BST Click to follow The Independent Online Sir Cliff Richard’s legal team have accused the Home Affairs Committee and its chairman Keith Vaz of unfairly causing the singer “extremely damaging” media coverage PA Sir Cliff Richard’s legal team have accused the Home Affairs Committee and its chairman Keith Vaz of unfairly causing the singer “extremely damaging” media coverage.

The accusation followed the release by the Commons committee of a letter from South Yorkshire Police Chief Constable David Crompton which revealed the investigation into an allegation against the singer of child sex abuse has “increased significantly”. Sir Cliff has strongly denied ever having sexually abused children and was incensed when police forewarned the BBC that they would be raiding his home, enabling the corporation to film the operation. Solicitor Gideon Benaim, representing Sir Cliff, has now written to the committee complaining that the release of the letter was “manifestly unfair” to the singer and that it was “not how a criminal investigation should be conducted”. He was particularly concerned his client was given “no opportunity to comment or make submissions to the committee” before the letter was made public. Mr Benaim rebuked Mr Vaz for speaking on camera about the letter, saying that “extensive media interest was hardly dampened by the chairman of the committee who appeared on television to discuss the contents”.

Cliff Richard: Life in pictures Cliff Richard: Life in pictures 1/22 Cliff Richard Richard aged 18 at the Hulton Boys and Girls Exhibition at Olympia's Disc Theatre in August 1959 when he was lead singer of the Drifters 2/22 Cliff Richard Pictured in 1962 with members of the Shadows, his backing group.

Next to him is Bruce Welch, who played rhythm guitar Getty Images 3/22 Cliff Richard With his backing group, the Shadows, Richard became a massive pop star in the 1960s with a string of hit albums and singles including ‘I love You’ (1960), ‘the Young Ones (1961), Bachelor Boy (1962) and ‘Summer Holiday (1963) 4/22 Cliff Richard With his mother, Dorothy, and one of his sisters in 1964 Michael Stroud/Daily Express/Hulton Archive 5/22 Cliff Richard Outside the Royal Albert Hall where he represented the UK in the Eurovision Song Contest in October 1967 6/22 Cliff Richard Cliff Richard poses in front of his disc awards in the 1970s 8/22 Cliff Richard On stage at the 1981 Royal Variety Performance, at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane in London 9/22 Cliff Richard In an interview with the Daily Mail in 2008, Sir Cliff is reported as saying: "Of all the women I've known, there were only two that I've come close to marrying.

One was Jackie Irving, a dancer whom I met in Blackpool. She was utterly beautiful and for a while we were inseparable.

The other girl I came close to asking was Sue Barker, whom I met in 1982" 10/22 Cliff Richard Orchestrating a round of singing as rain delays play during the 1996 Wimbledon tennis championships 11/22 Cliff Richard Performing a duet with Flemish singer Helmut Lotti during a rehearsal of Lotti's album and TV broadcast 'Pop Classics' on 6 August 2003 in Brussels 12/22 Cliff Richard Performing on stage during the 'Intelligent Finance Cliff Richard Tennis Classic' at Birmingham National Indoor Arena on 18 December 2004 13/22 Cliff Richard Arriving with Brian May at the Royal Film Performance and World Premiere of 'The Chronicles Of Narnia' at the Royal Albert Hall on 7 December 2005 in London 14/22 Cliff Richard Unveiling a plaque of his handprints in Wembley Arena's Square of Fame on 9 November 2006 in London 15/22 Cliff Richard Sir Cliff Richard and The Shadows performs live on stage at the O2 Arena in London on 28 September 2009 16/

22 Cliff Richard Cliff Richard attends a press conference to announce details of his new album at Gilgamesh on 7 March 2011 in London Getty Images 17/22 Cliff Richard Queen Elizabeth II is introduced to Sir Cliff Richard backstage after the Diamond Jubilee, Buckingham Palace Concert on 4 June 2012, along with Sir Elton John, Sir Tom Jones, Paul McCartney, and Shirely Bassey 18/22 Cliff Richard Sir Cliff Richard at the 2012 US Open.

The crooner claimed One Direction still compete with him to 'look cool' Getty Images Performing on stage during the Diamond Jubilee concert at Buckingham Palace in 2012 Getty Images 20/22 Cliff Richard Cliff Richard attends the 'Willkommen bei Carmen Nebel' show at Volkswagen Halle on 23 November 2013 in Braunschweig, Germany 21/22 Cliff Richard Harry Roger Webb - Genealogy Genealogy Join the world's largest family tree Gender Share your family tree and photos with the people you know and love Build your family tree online Share photos and videos King George Hospital, Lucknow, United Provinces, British India Immediate Family: Brother of <private> Webb; <private> Webb and <private> Webb Managed by: Roger Oscar Webb, Dorothy Marie Webb Siblings: Oct 14 1940 - Lucknow, India Parents: Oct 14 1940 - Lucknow, India Parents: Oct 14 1940 - Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India Parents: Oct 19 1940 - King George Hospital, Victoria Street, Lucknow, India Parents: A.

Marlene Webb (born Karn) Child: mother's ex-spouse About Cliff Richard Inspired by the music of Elvis Presley, Cliff Richard dominated the pre-Beatles British pop scene in the late '50s and early '60s. His 1958 hit single "Move It" is often described as Britain's first authentic rock and roll song. Over a 52-year career, Richard has become a fixture of the British entertainment world. Selling over 260 million records worldwide, he holds the record (with Elvis Presley) as the only act to make the UK singles charts in all of its first six decades (1950s–2000s). He was born Harry Rodger Webb on October 14, 1940 at the King George Hospital, Victoria Street, in Lucknow, India, to Rodger Oscar Webb, a manager for a catering contractor that serviced the Indian Railways, and Dorothy Marie Webb (née Bhattacharjee). Rodger Webb was 17 years senior to his Anglo-Indian wife, Dorothy. Dorothy's mother served as the dormitory matron at the La Martinier Girls' School.

Richard spent some of his childhood years in India and was educated in Howrah until his family moved to England in 1948 following Home Rule in India. After a privileged life in India, the Webbs faced poverty, and were forced to sleep on mattresses at the houses of various relatives. In 1951 they were given a council house in Chesthunt, and after just failing the eleven-plus exam, Richard was enrolled in the newly built Cheshunt County Secondary School. Inspired by the music of Elvis, Harry and a group of school friends formed a group, 'The Quintones', and performed at their local Youth Club. From there, he became lead singer of a rock and roll group, The Drifters (not to be confused with the U.S. group of the same name). After recording their first hit single, ‘Schoolboy Crush/Move It’, they were quickly signed by Columbia. The song hit No.2 in the British charts, and went on to sell over a million copies. 1950s entrepreneur Harry Greatorex wanted the up and coming Rock 'n' Roll singer to change from his real name of Harry Webb.

The name "Cliff" was adopted as it sounded like cliff face, which suggested "Rock." It was "Move It" writer Ian Samwell who suggested that the former Harry Webb be surnamed Richard as a tribute to Webb's musical hero Little Richard. Before their first large-scale appearance, at the Regal Ballroom in Ripley, Derbyshire in 1958, they adopted the name "Cliff Richard and the Drifters". The four members were Harry Webb (now going under the stage name "Cliff Richard"), Ian "Sammy" Samwell on guitar, Terry Smart on drums and Norman Mitham on guitar. Now going under the name Cliff Richard, an appearance on the TV show ‘Oh Boy!’ catapulted Cliff to sex symbol status. In 1958, Hank Marvin and Bruce Welch joined 'The Drifters', and by 1959 the band changed their name to ‘The Shadows’. It was also around this time that Cliff made his film debut in ‘Serious Charge’. The film produced the hit ‘Living Doll’, Cliff’s first number one hit. Cliff's second movie, ‘Expresso Bongo’, was more successful and critically acclaimed.

As the albums and hit singles rolled out, Cliff Richard was building a devoted fan base that would secure his chart success some 40 years later. In 1961, Cliff starred in ‘The Young Ones’, and the accompanying single shot straight into number one in the charts. The second film with Cliff in the leading role was another musical, ‘Summer Holiday’, which saw him star alongside Una Stubbs. 1968 saw the last album recorded by Cliff with 'The Shadows', and Cliff went on to tour with his own gospel album. In 1970, Cliff launched his first television show, featuring a mix of music and comedy. In the same year, he made his stage debut in Peter Shaffer's ‘Five Finger Exercise’, a play focusing on a 'deep friendship' between a student and his tutor. The play was originally considered controversial for its veiled homosexual themes but despite this, reviews were favourable. One of the most talked about aspects of Cliff's life is his relationships. A much publicised relationship with tennis star Sue Barker in 1981 ended within a year. Cliff has also been linked with actress Una Stubbs.

In 1986 Cliff and The Young Ones re-recorded ‘Living Doll’ and made it to the top of the charts. In the same year he appeared in the West End musical ‘Time’, and by the end of the decade he had released his highest selling album of all time, 'Private Collection', which went on to be certified four-times platinum in the UK alone! ‘Mistletoe & Wine’ become Cliff's first Christmas-themed No.1 in 1988 and by 1989 Cliff became the first British artist to release 100 singles. Cliff continued to tour and break records throughout the 1990’s, and in 1995 he became Sir Cliff Richard - the first pop star to be honoured with a full Knighthood. Despite selling records by the lorry load, Cliff ran into trouble getting airplay from various radio stations, including a ban by the BBC for his track ‘Misunderstood Man’, which was deemed “too raucous” for listeners. Perhaps the most significant project for Cliff in the nineties was the fulfilment of his lifelong dream to play the character of Heathcliff in Emily Bronte's masterpiece, 'Wuthering Heights'.

The show was a runaway success, and gave Cliff his highest selling video ever, topping the UK video charts for two months upon its 1998 release. In 1999 ‘The Millennium Prayer’ reached number one, regardless of no airplay and scathing reviews. Despite a lack of support in the press, Cliff continues to make music and his recent album and DVD release cracked the top twenty. Cliff now divides his time between his homes in the UK, Barbados and Portugal, where he has taken to making his own wine. Cliff Richard - Music on Google Play Cliff Richard About the artist Sir Cliff Richard OBE is a British pop singer, musician, performer, actor and philanthropist. Richard has sold more than 250 million records worldwide. He has total sales of over 21 million singles in the United Kingdom and is the third-top-selling artist in UK Singles Chart history, behind the Beatles and Elvis Presley. Richard was originally positioned as a rebellious rock and roll singer in the style of Little Richard and Elvis Presley.

With his backing group, the Shadows, Richard dominated the British popular music scene in the pre-Beatles period of the late 1950s to early 1960s. His 1958 hit single, "Move It", is often described as Britain's first authentic rock and roll song, and John Lennon once claimed that "before Cliff and the Shadows, there had been nothing worth listening to in British music." Increased focus on his Christian faith and subsequent softening of his music later led to a more middle of the road pop image, and he sometimes ventured into contemporary Christian music. 1 $9.49 The Fabulous Rock 'n' Roll Songbook is a studio album by Cliff Richard. Promoted as his 100th album, the album was released through Rhino Records on November 11, 2013 and is made up of 14 covers of... 1 The Shadows 0 The Shadows are a British instrumental rock group, and Cliff Richard's backing band, with 69 UK chart singles from the 1950s to the 2000s, 35 credited to the Shadows and 34 to Cliff Richard and the...

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Question: What is or was the name of Cliff Richard's backing group
Answer: The Shadows